Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants Preview and Pick

Two of the biggest rivals in the NFC will rekindle their hatred this weekend when the New York Giants host the Philadelphia Eagles in a game with huge playoff implications on the line. The Eagles dominated the Giants earlier this year in a 40-17 blowout led by QB Donovan McNabb who tossed 3 touchdowns passes while completing 75% during the contest. The Giants just looked out-matched in that particular game as their QB Eli Manning struggled with a few interceptions.

However, the Giants ending a bad stretch of games last week with a big victory over the Cowboys as they clawed their way right back into the NFC East Division Title race. A Giants win this weekend would put them in first place as they would hold the tie breaker over the Cowboys and Eagles with their division record given the Cowboys also lose to the Chargers. As you can see, there are a ton of different playoff scenarios unfolding and the outcome this Sunday night will make a huge impact on each team’s postseason destiny.

The area of the game that really kept the Giants from challenging Philadelphia earlier this year was the turnovers and big plays. Giants QB Eli Manning threw 2 picks and the offense gave up 3 turnovers overall. To add to those struggles, the Giants defense gave up a few plays over 50 yards that resulted in long touchdowns from Eagles WR DeSean Jackson and running back LeSean McCoy. The Giants defense has been a big area of concern through their struggles and they have not held any team to under 21 points since week 5 back in early October. It will be very crucial for the Giants defense especially the secondary to play well this weekend and get some help from some long drives from the offense.

New York’s offense got a couple of big plays in last week’s win over the Cowboys. QB Eli Manning only completed 11 of 25 passes for 241 yards, but there were some big completions. WR Steve Smith racked up 6 catches for 110 yards and Brandon Jacobs broke open a 74 yard screen pass for a touchdown that really put a dent in the Cowboys momentum. The Giants offense will need some of those similar plays to keep the Eagles defense on their heels. The Eagles defense has been pretty strong this year holding teams to just 19 points per game and just 304 total yards. However, where the Eagles defense really impresses is up front. The Eagles has the ability to really make it difficult for the Giants rush offense and put a lot of pressure on Eli Manning which caused a good bit of hardship during the last game.

The Eagles offense has really emerged with the help of some young wide receivers. DeSean Jackson is the big play threat averaging 18 yards per reception and rookie Jeremy Maclin has really come on strong as another target for McNabb. The Eagles inconsistent run game may throw up some warnings here preventing them from controlling the football. However, if McNabb can have a solid game the Eagles have too many targets to break down the Giants secondary. New York has to play well on defense or it will be another disappointing outing against their division rivals.

Betting Trends –

The Giants have not been exactly bookmakers in recent weeks winning just 1 of their last 7 games ATS while carrying a 2-4-1 ATS mark in their last 7 games at home. The Giants on the other hand are 11-4 SU in their last 15 games at home. Philadelphia is 5-2 SU in their past 7 games and reached the over total in 9 of the last 13 games. The Eagles are 1-3-1 ATS in their last 5 games and 3-2-1 ATS on the year on the road.